Great post. We're in a parallel situation in Vermont: current EPA woodstove using locally harvested wood, fuel oil backup that we use only when we aren't home

Great post. We're in a parallel situation in Vermont: current EPA woodstove using locally harvested wood, fuel oil backup that we use only when we aren't home. We did install a heat pump hot water heater and have been happy with it, but it was replacing electric so a clearer win. I'm not sure what to make of the Finnish study. Full version is here: https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.02.027 https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.02.027. It's hard to know how the elevated levels compare to other sources, since 2x of almost zero might still be negligible. It does mention though that the "PCDD/F level exceeded the emission limit in Europe for MSW incinerators" so maybe it's real. One other factor that might help us remain "smug" about our modern wood stoves is that the Finnish study was done on sauna stoves without secondary combustion and with high flue gas temps. I suspect the results might be completely different for compliant woodstove with good secondary and much lower flue temps. Of course, different might end up worse.